Packaging machine



March 8, 1966 1', BUGLE ET AL PACKAGING MACHINE 16 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1961 f r rrrfff rrr f rrr INVENTORS. THOMAS E. DU GLE.

ROLAND W. WAGNER. BY f w J Attorneys.

March 8, 1966 T. E. DUGLE ETAL PACKAGING MACHINE l6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5, 1961 INVENTORS.

E DUGLE. W. WAGNER.

THOMAS ROLAND Ahornevs.

March 8, 1966 T. E. DUGLE ET AL PACKAGING MACHINE l6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 5, 1961 mm m\. E

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March 8, 1966 1'. E. DUGLE ET AL 3,

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1961 16 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS FIG- 9- THOMAS E.DUGLE- B" ROLAND W.WAGNER.

March 8, 1966 T. E. DUGLE ET AL PACKAGING MACHINE l6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 5, 1961 m n O E T N N E A V W m ED fiN MA 0L O R .Y

w l F few, 3/ 04 Attorneys- March 8, 1966 T. E. DUGLE ETAL PACKAGING MACHINE l6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 5, 1961 INVENTORS. THOMAS E.DUGLE. ROLAND w. WAGNER.

Attorneys.

March 8, 1966 BUGLE ET AL PACKAGING MACHINE 16 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed June 5, 1961 AHornevs.

March 8, 1966 1'. E. DUGLE ET AL PACKAGING MACHINE 16 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed June 5, 1961 INVENTORS- THOMAS E. DUGLE.

BY ROLAND W. WAGNER. flaw Attornevs.

T. E. DUGLE ET AL March 8, 1966 PACKAGING MACHINE 16 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed June 5, 1961 INVENTORS. THOMAS E. DUGLE.

ROLAND W. WAGNER.

March 8, 1966 Filed June 5, 1961 T. E. DUGLE ET AL 3,238,695

PACKAGING MACHINE l6 Sheets-Sheet 1O INVENTORS. THOMAS E. DUGLE.

ROLAND W. WAGNER. BY

Attorneys.

March 8, 1966 'r. E. DUGLE ETAL PACKAGING MACHINE l6 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed June 5, 1961 FIG. 20.

INVENTORS. THOMAS E. DUGLE. BY ROLAND W. WAGNER.

A: torn eys.

March 8, 1966 1', BUGLE ET AL 3,238,695

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1961 16 SheetsSheet 12 INVENTORS THOMAS E. DUGLE. BY ROLAND W. WAGNER.

A Homevs March 8, 1966 'r. E. DUGLE ETAL PACKAGING MACHINE 16 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed June 5, 1961 lo N m 2 INVENTORS THOMAS E. DUGLE ROLAND W. WAGNER.

Aflornevs.

0% 8w mov gm voq March 8, 1966 T. E. DUGLE ETAL PACKAGING MACHINE 16 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed June 5. 1961 wmm INVENTORS THOMAS E. DUGLE. ROLAND W. WAGNER. BY

March 8, 1966 BUGLE ET AL 3,238,695

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1961 16 Sheets-Sheet 15 32o" l9d FIG. 30.

INVENTORS. THOMAS E. DUGL E.

BY ROLAND W. WAGNER.

z, 3/ LAWJMALW Attorneys.

March 8, 1966 T. E. DUGLE ETAL 3,238,695

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1961 16 Sheets-Sheet l6 CARD RAM CARD PICKER MOVES OUT-PICKS RAM MOVES BACK BOTTOM RAM MOVES OUT MOVES DOWN CARD FOLDER MOVES DIVERTER MOVES UP CARD RAM MOVES OUT CARD MOVES IN TOP RAM MOVES BACK BUCKET INDEXES FIG. 29

INVENTORS- THOMAS. E. DUGLE.

A GNER. BY ROLAND W WA a w LA United States Patent 3,238,695 PACKAGING MACHINE Thomas E. Dugle, Indian Hill, and Roland Wagner,

Sharonville, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to

War-rick Equipment Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio, 21 corporation of Ohio Filed June 5, 1961, Ser. No. 115,041 16 Claims. (CI. 53-62) This invention relates to packaging machinery. More particularly, this invention relates to a machine for packaging articles in groups.

An object of this invention is to provide a machine which counts a predetermined number of articles and groups the articles for packaging.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine which places groups of articles of predetermined size in wrappers.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type which can handle a large number of cylindrical articles at high speed and in which the articles are arranged in banks or groups one on top of another.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the articles are advanced first into one bin or tray and then into another bin or tray and in which an article diverting device is moved in response to the count of articles for diverting a predetermined number of articles into each tray.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the cylindrical articles are advanced between spaced belts to pass an article counting device and in which, after the articles have passed the counting device, the belts diverge toward the trays into which the articles are advanced after counting of the articles and in which a diverter roller is mounted between the diverging portions of the belts, the roller being advanceable crosswise of the direction of article movement between the belts to divert the articles in alternate directions and into either of the pair of trays.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the trays are mounted one above the other so that groups of articles are segregated one above another.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the diverter roller is mounted for rotation and that means is provided for rotating the diverter roller and reversing the direction of diverter roller rotation when the roller is moved from one of its positions to the other of its positions.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the articles advance longitudinally between the belts and into the trays, the trays being generally in alignment with the course of the articles between the belts and in which the articles are then advanced axially by rams which move through the trays to move the articles from the trays into package holding receptacles or buckets.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the rams are moved alternately through one tray and then through the other so that, while a ram is moving through one of the trays, the other tray is being filled and, after the other tray is filled, the action is reversed so that the articles in the other tray are advanced axially while the first mentioned tray is filling.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a machine in which the articles are advanced axially into a package holding bucket and in which means are provided for folding a wrapper and for positioning the wrapper in the package holding bucket embracing the articles.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which a wrapper is folded into a Patented Mar. 8, 1966 receptacle adjacent the package holding bucket and opposite the trays, and in which, thereafter, the wrapper is advanced into the bucket in a direction axially of the articles by a card ram, and a lower article ram moves articles into the wrapper in a direction opposite to that in which a wrapper moving or card ram advances,

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the wrapper is folded to a U-shape inside a wrapper folding frame adjacent a bucket loading station, in which the bucket is of generally U- shape with one wall of the bucket being swingable outwardly, in which means is provided for swinging said wall of the package holder or bucket to open position as the wrapper is advanced into the bucket and articles are being moved into the wrapper in the package holder, and in which means is provided for swinging said wall to a closed substantially upright position when the package holder and articles are moved away from the loading station.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which the articles are delivered to the belts by an article conveyor having a curved portion adjacent the belts from which the articles advance to between the belts and in which means is provided for swinging a portion of at least one of the belts adjacent the article conveyor between an open position in which there is sufiicient space between said one of said belts and the article conveyor to permit an article to enter the space between the belts and a closed position in which adjacent belt courses are substantially parallel and sufficiently closely spaced so that each article is firmly gripped by the belts after leaving the article conveyor.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which articles are delivered to the article conveyor by an input conveyor having upright parallel spaced cooperating courses adapted to grip cylindrical articles therebetween.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a machine in which there is a discharge space below and between the cooperating courses and that means is provided for diverting articles into said space.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type in which oscillating side guides are disposed parallel to and on opposite sides of the article conveyor, in which the input conveyor delivers the articles into the space between the oscillating side guides and m which the side guides centrally position the articles for proper delivery to the belt conveyor which recerves the articles from the article conveyor.

A further object of this invention is to provide means for engaging any article which comes to rest above two articles already on the article conveyor to roll such article into position directly on the article conveyor so that only a single layer of articles is disposed on the article conveyor when delivered to the belt conveyors.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine of this type which is adapted to count and package cylindrical articles and food products such as sausages, wieners and the like, and is adapted to handle such cylindrical articles when delivered thereto either rapidly or at intervals, and accurately and quickly segregates the articles in groups containing a predetermined number of the articles in packages and delivers such packages for further handling.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the following detailed description and the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a machine for packaging articles constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of an input conveyor and a portion of an article conveyor which form a part of the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, parts thereof being broken away to reveal structural details, wiener sausages being carrired by the machine being shown in dot-dash lines, a fragmentary portion of a peeler conveyor being shown in association therewith;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of the input conveyor illustrated in FIG. 3, the framework of an article conveyor being shown in section, a shaker frame being shown in an alternate position in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 4A is a view in section taken on the line 4A-4A in FIG, 3;

FIG. 4B is a view in section taken on the line 4B-4B in FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in front elevation showing details of construction of a portion of the article conveyor, and shaker frame illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 also showing showing article wiping plates forming a portion of the machine;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the article wiping plates and of the portion of the article conveyor and the shaker frame illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view in front elevation showing a loading station of the machine illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and a discharge station thereof, the machine being broken away therebetween;

FIG. 7A is a view in vertical section showing article receiving trays at the loading station, the trays being shown swung open;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the portions of the machine shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a broken away view in side elevation of a main housing beneath the loading station, the walls of the housing and portions of the machinery thereinside being broken away and in section to reveal structural details, fragmentary portions of the machine thereabove being shown in association therewith;

FIG. 9A is a view in front elevation of a portion of the machinery illustrated in FIG. 9 looking in the direction of the arrows 9A9A in FIG. 9;

FIG. 10 is a somewhat schematic broken away view in front elevation of the main housing with portions of the walls thereof being broken away, drive chains and sprockets thereof being shown in dashed lines;

FIG. 11 is a view in front elevation of a belt conveyor and a gear housing which form a portion of the machine illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the belt conveyor and gear housing, portions thereof being broken away and in section to reveal structural details;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged perspective view of the gear housing, portions thereof and of gears and shafts and other mechanism thereinside being broken away to reveal structural detail, openings in a wall thereof being omitted;

FIG. 14 is a view in side elevation of the gear housing illustrated in FIG. 13 with portions broken away to reveal structure of apparatus for operating a bell crank and reversible diverter roller support which form a potion of the machine, openings in a front wall of the gear housing being omitted;

FIG. 15 is a view in front elevation of the gear housing shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 with portions broken away to reveal construction of a drive for a swinging belt-supporting roller which forms a part of the machine, openings in a front wall of the gear housing being omitted;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the gear housing illustrated in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 looking from the rear side thereof, a portion thereof being broken away to reveal structural details;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the interior of a portion of the main housing and article advancing rams and ram driving apparatus, portions of the housing, and of a ram supporting unit being broken away to reveal structural details, the rams and drive cams therefor being shown out of synchronization to show both rams partially advanced:

FIG. 17A is a fragmentary view in transverse section showing details of construction of a shaft restraining brake which forms a portion of the ram operating structure illustrated in-FIG. 17;

FIG. 17B is a view in horizontal section showing details of construction of the brake illustrated in FIG. 17A;

FIG. 17C is a fragmentary view in side elevation showing details of the ram mounting and ram operating and guiding devices;

FIG. 17D is a top plan view of the rams, ram supporting structure, and tray structure illustrated in FIG. 17C taken on the line 17D-17D in FIG. 17C;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of portions of a card storage and card delivery apparatus adjacent the loading station, the drive thereof being shown in association therewith;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary perspective view of card folding mechanism of the machine;

FIG. 19A is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a portion of the card delivering apparatus, a card operating cable and pulley therefor being omitted;

FIG. 19B is a plan view of the portion of the machine illustrated in FIG. 19A;

FIG. 19C is a view in section taken on the line 19C 19C in FIG. 19B;

FIG. 19D is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 19D19D in FIG. 19C;

FIG. 20 is a perspective of a portion of the main housing with the housing wall and portions of the mechanism being broken away to reveal details of structure of a package conveyor driving mechanism;

FIG. 20A is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a portion of the main housing, parts being broken away to reveal structural details of rams, trays, package conveyor, and card ram and card ram drive, the card ram being shown in fully advanced position in full lines and in retracted position in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 21 is a fragmentary view in side elevation similar to FIG. 20A but showing the lower ram advanced, with unrelated parts being omitted;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a card storage bin which forms a part of the machine, a card folding member being shown in association therewith;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged view in upright section showing the card folding members and associated card folding apparatus, the card folding member and cards being shown in full lines in fully folded position, in triple dot-dash lines in position before folding, and in double dot-dash lines in partly folded position;

FIG. 24 is a view in vertical section taken through the card storage bin shown in FIG. 22, cards being shown in position thereinside, a vacuum cup assembly and a card folder being shown in card released position in double dot-dash lines, and in an intermediate position in full lines, the vacuum cup assembly being shown in card engaging position in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 25 is a fragmentary view in section taken on a line 2525 in FIG. 23;

FIG. 26 is a plan view of a wrapper card used in the machine, score lines being shown in dot-dash lines, a rectangular card used in the machine being shown in dashed lines in association therewith.

FIG. 27 is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation of an electromagnetic clutch and brake unit which forms a part of the machine;

FIG. 28 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuit of the machine;

.shown) FIG. 29 is a cycle diagram showing operation of the machine; and

FIG. 30 is a plan view of a package of wieners as delivered by the machine.

In the following detailed description and the drawings, like reference characters indicate like parts.

Introduction In FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown a machine 9 for counting and packaging articles which is constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention. The machine is constructed for counting and packaging Wiener sausages or the like and placing same in packages containing a predetermined number of articles (ten) in each package with two layers mounted one on top of the other, each layer containing half of the articles.

The machine includes a main housing 10 and a main frame 12 which support an article conveyor 13. Wieners 14 (FIG. 3) are fed to the article conveyor 13 by input conveyors 15 (FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4) which receive the wieners from peeling machines or the like (not Peeling machine conveyors 15a (FIGS. 3 and 4) deliver the wieners to the input conveyors. After being delivered to the article conveyor by the input conveyors, the wieners are carried to the left as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, by the article conveyor 13 to a belt conveyor 16 mounted on the housing 10. A package feeding conveyor 17 is also mounted on the housing 10 and frame 12. The package feeding conveyor 17 carries a plurality of buckets 18. Wrapper cards 19 (FIG. 2) are fed from a card holder 21 to the buckets, and wieners from the belt conveyor 16 are counted and advanced into the buckets in a sequence determined by the count so that a predetermined number of wieners are received in a wrapper card in each bucket.

Input conveyors The wieners enter the machine on the input conveyors 15. Details of construction of one of the input conveyors are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The input conveyor 15 includes a main frame plate 22. Spaced idle rollers 23 and 24 are rotatably mounted at one end of the main frame plate 22. The idle roller 23 is mounted on a shaft 26 carried by bearings (not shown in detail) in the main frame plate 22 and in a bracket 27 attached thereto. The idle roller 24 is mounted on a similar shaft 28 mounted in bearings carried by the main frame plate 22 and by a bracket 29 attached thereto. Spaced drive rollers 31 and 32 at an inner end of the main frame plate 22 are mounted on shafts 33 and 34, respectively. Shafts 33 and 34, as shown in FIG. 4B, are rotatably mounted in a frame member 36. The frame member 36 is attached to an article conveyor frame 38 (FIG. 4) which, in turn, is attached to the main frame 12.

Lower ends of the shafts 33 and 34 carry bevel gears 39 and 41 (FIG. 4B) which mesh with bevel gears 42 and 43, respectively, mounted on an input conveyor drive I shaft 44. The shaft 44, in turn, is driven by a sprocket 45 mounted thereon. A drive chain 45a (FIG. 4) runs on the sprocket 45 and on a sprocket 45b (FIG. 4). The sprocket 45b, in turn, is mounted on a shaker drive shaft 45c. The shaker drive shaft 45c is driven by operation of a motor 46 (FIG. 1). Gears (not shown) in a gear box 46a (FIG. 2) driven by the motor 46 drive sprocket 47. A chain 48 is driven by the sprocket 47. The chain 48 in turn drives a sprocket 49 mounted on a side shaft 50. A sprocket 50a mounted on the side shaft 50 drives a chain 5% which runs on a sprocket 50c (FIG. 1). The sprocket 500 is mounted on the shaker drive shaft 450 so that operation of the motor 46 drives the shaker drive shaft 450.

Input conveyor belts 51 and 52 are mounted on and run on rollers 23-31 and 24-32, respectively (see FIG. 3). Idle rollers 53, mounted on shafts 54 (FIG. 4A) supported by back-up frames 55, keep inner courses 56 6 and 57 of the belts 51 and 52, respectively, substantially parallel and properly spaced to grip the wieners. 'Ihe back-up frames 54 are attached to the main frame plate 22 in an appropriate manner, not shown.

The main frame plate 22 is supported by the frame member 36 and by a support leg 59 (FIG. 4) which can rest on an appropriate support 61.

Wieners reach the conveyor belts 51 and 52 from the peeler conveyor 1511 which may be a part of the conventional Wiener peeling device (not shown in detail). Wiener conveyor belt courses 56 and 57 of the input conveyor belts are sufficiently spaced to grip the wieners 14, and the wieners 14 are supported by the belt courses 56 and 57 alone. Normally, the wieners are advanced onto the article conveyor 13 by the input conveyor 15 in the manner indicated in dot-dash lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, if desired, wieners can be diverted downwardly between the belt courses 56 and 57. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, a slot 64 is provided in the main frame plate 22 through which the wieners can be diverted downwardly. A diverter arm 66 is mounted on a shaft 67. The shaft 67 is pivotally mounted in a frame arm 68 attached to the main frame plate 22 and in similar frame arms 68a mounted on the other input conveyors, as shown in FIG. 2. A handle 69 mounted on the shaft 67 can be swung from the position shown in full lines at which the diverter arm diverts the wieners 14a (FIG. 4) downwardly to the position shown in double dot-dash lines at which the diverter arm is raised above the path of the wieners and the wieners progress along the input conveyor belt courses to the article conveyor 13. A tension spring 71, linking a lug 72 on the handle with a lug 73 mounted on a frame arm 74 holds the handle 69 and diverter arm 66 in selected positions. Stop pins 74 and 75 mounted in the frame arm 68 limit swinging of the handle.

Article conveyors As already indicated, the article conveyor 13 is supported on the main housing 10 and on the frame housing 12 (FIG. 1). In FIG. 4 is shown in detail the artilcle conveyor frame 38. The article conveyor frame 3 8 is of generally C-shape and includes a base arm 75b, an upstanding main plate portion 75c, a horizontal upper arm 75d and a depending flange 75e. Frame support brackets 75 are mounted on the base arm 75b and rest on and are attached to cross frame elements, one of which is shown at 75h. The upper face of the horizontal upper arm 75d carries spaced nylon strips 75g adhesively attached thereto on which article buckets 76 can be supported.

The article conveyor '13, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, includes a plurality of article buckets 76. Each bucket 76 includes a base plate portion 77 (FIG. 8), an upright flange 78 (FIGS. 5 and 7) and downwardly extending flanges 79 and 80 (FIG. 4.). The buckets are connected together with conveyor chain-s 81 and 82. Flanges 79 and 80 of each article bucket are pivotally attached to upstanding portions 83 (FIG. 7) of links of the conveyor chains. As shown in FIG. 4, the chains run on outer sides of flange 75e and the main plate portion 75c of the article conveyor frame 38 and the chains are guided thereby.

As the wieners 14 are delivered from the input conveyor-s 15 to the article conveyor 13, as indicated most clearly in FIG. 4, the wieners fall onto the buckets of the article conveyor. Ordinarily, each Wiener 14 falls into one of the buckets 76 so that a single layer of wieners is disposed on the article conveyor, and the article conveyor is driven (by mechanism to be described hereinafter) at such a speed that, even if all the input conveyors 15 are operating at full capacity, some of the buckets 76 of the article conveyor remain empty. On occasion, more than one vviener may be directed into a single bucket in the manner that the Wiener 14b is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A plurality of wiper plates 84 are mounted above the article conveyor for wiping or moving any such improperly positioned Wiener into an unoccupied article bucket. Each wiper plate is integrally mounted on a sleeve 85. Each sleeve 85 is pivotally mounted on a horizontal shaft 86. The shafts 86 are mounted on a bracket 87 which, in turn, is attached to the article conveyor frame 38. A stop pin 88 extending into the lower side of the shaft 86 limits swinging of the wiper plate 84 in a counterclockwise direction (as shown in FIG. However, the plate is free to swing upwardly in a clockwise direction when engaged by an improperly positioned Wiener. Centering pins 89 mounted in the shaft 86 are engageable with opposite sides of the sleeve 85 to keep the wiper plate in position on the shaft. When the improperly positioned Wiener 14b (FIG. 5) is engaged by the wiper plate 84, the Wiener is held back while the wieners 14 pass to the left, as shown in FIG. 5, and the improperly positioned Wiener rolls into an unocupied bucket.

Ordinarily each input conveyor will drop or position each Wiener properly in a central position in one of the input buckets as shown at 140 in FIG. 3. On occasion, a Wiener will fall into an improperly centered position. Shaker bars 91 and 92 mounted along sides of the article conveyor, serve to properly center the wieners in the article conveyor. The shaker bars 91 and 92 are mounted in U-shaped shaker frames 93, one of which is shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. The shaker frame 93 is supported on a U-shaped pivot frame 94 (FIG. 5) attached to the base arm 75b of the article conveyor frame 38. A hearing sleeve 96 is attached to the base of the shaker frame 93. A pivot pin 97 mounted in the pivot frame 94 and received in the bearing sleeve 96 pivotally supports the shaker frame 93. A cam 98, mounted on the shaker drive shaft 45c, engages a cam follower 99 mounted on a pin 4100 supported by arms 100a which are attached to the shaker frame 93 to cause the shaker frame to oscillate as the shaker drive shaft 45c turns. A tension spring 101 holds shaker frame 93 in position for the cam follower 99 to engage the cam 98 so that rotation of the shaker drive shaft 450 causes back and forth oscillation of the shaker frame 93 and the shaker bars 91 and 92 between the position shown in full lines in FIG. 4 and the position shown in dot-dash lines to move wieners to a central position on the article conveyor.

The article conveyor 13 carries the wieners to the left as indicated inFIGS. 1 and 2 to deliver the wieners to the belt conveyor 16 with no more than a single Wiener 14 in each article bucket 76, as shown in FIG. 7. As

the article conveyor approaches the belt conveyor 16, the chains 81 and 82 pass over a sprocket 102 and a sprocket 102a (FIG. 9), respectively, mounted on a shaft 103. The shaft 103, in turn, is driven by a sprocket 104 mounted thereon. The drive connections to the sprocket 104 are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. A main drive motor 106 carries a pulley 107 which drives a belt 108. The belt 108 drives a pulley 109 mounted on a shaft 111. A small sprocket 11-2 mounted on the shaft 111 drives a chain 113 which drives a large sprocket 114 mounted on a shaft 116. The shaft 116 carries a small sprocket 1.17 which drives a chain 118. The chain 118 in turn, drives the large sprocket '104 mounted on the shaft 103 to drive the article conveyor.

Belt conveyor As the article buckets swing around the sprockets 102 and 102a, as shown in FIG. 7, each bucket passes very close to lower belts 12 1 and 121a (FIG. 12) of the belt conveyor 16, and each Wiener passes from the article conveyor to the belt conveyor 16. The belt conveyor 16 includes the lower belts 121 and 121a and a pair of spaced upper belts 122 and 123. The belts run on a plurality of rollers which extend cantilever-fashion from a gear housing 124 (FIGS. 7, 11, and 12). The lower belts run on a drive roller 126- and idle rollers 127, 1 28 and 129. The drive roller 126 is mounted on a shaft 131 which extends into the gear housing 124 as shown in FIG. 13. The idle rollers 127, 128, and 129 are mounted on stationary shafts 132, 133, and 134, respectively, which are mounted on a wall 136 of the gear housing 124. On the shaft 133 are mounted pivot links 137 and 138 which support a shaft 139 on which an idler roller 14 1 is rotatably mounted. The roller 141 weights the lower courses of the belts 121 and 121a to maintain tension in the upper courses 142 and 143 thereof so that the upper courses are urged to taut condition. The idle roller 192 carriers a knurled sleeve 143a which is attached thereto to turn therewith as the idle roller 192 is turned by the lower belts 121 and 1210.

The drive for the shaft 131 is shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 16. A sprocket 143a (FIGS. 9 and 10) mounted on the shaft 116 drives a chain 143]). The chain 143b runs on a sprocket 1430 mounted on the shaft 131. the shaft 116 also is in the drive for the article conveyor, as already explained, the belt conveyor drive shaft and the article conveyor are driven in unison.

The upper belts 122 and 123 (FIG. 12) run on a driven roller 144 and idle rollers 146, 147 and 148. The driven roller 144 is mounted on a shaft 149 which extends into the gear housing 124 and carries a gear 151 (FIG. 13). The shaft 149 also extends through a wall 152 of the gear housing 122 (FIG. 16) and carries a sprocket 153. The sprocket 153 carries a chain 154 which extends around a sprocket 155 and over a sprocket 156. The sprocket 156'is freely rotatable on a shaft 157. The sprocket 155 is mounted on a shaft 15711. The shaft 157a carries gear 157]) (FIG. 13) which meshes with a gear 157c mounted on the shaft 131. A pinion 158 (FIG. 16) is mounted on the shaft 157 and is driven by a gear 159 mounted on the shaft 131. As shown in FIG. 12, the idle rollers on 146 and 147 are mounted on stationary shafts 161 and 162, respectively, which are mounted on the wall 136 of the gear housing 124. The drive roller 144 is driven at the same rate as the drive roller 126 but in the opposite direction so that the upper and lower belts of the belt conveyor 16 move at the same speed but the upper belts 122 and 123 move clockwise as shown in FIG. 12 while the belts 12-1 and 121a move counter-clockwise. Thus, the belts can cooperate to grip wieners therebetween and advance the wieners to the left as indicated in FIGS. 7, l1 and 12. As already pointed out, the belts of the belt conveyor 16' advance in timed relation with the article conveyor. However, the belts of the belt conveyor 16 move at a faster rate so that, as the wieners are advanced by the belt conveyor 16, the wieners are substantially spaced, as shown in FIG. 11, at Me and 14d.

An idle roller 165 is mounted on a swinging shaft 166 as shownin FIG. 12, and rests on top of the upper belts 122 and 123. The shaft 166 of the idle roller 165 is carried by pivot links 167 and 167a. The pivot links 167 and 167a are pivotally mounted on a stationary shaft 168. The shaft 168, in turn, is mounted on the wall 136 of the gear housing 124. The idle roller 165 weights the upper courses of the belts 122 and 123 so that lower courses 168a of the belts 122 and 123 (only one of which is shown) are urged to taut condition.

The idle roller 148 is mounted on a shaft 169. As shown in FIG. 13, the shaft 169 extends through the wall 136 of the gear housing 124 and is pivotally mounted thereon in bearings, one of which is indicated at 170. The belts 122 and 123 extend around the idle roller 171 which, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, is mounted on links 172 and 173. The links 172 and 173 are mounted on the shaft 169. As shown in FIG. 13, the shaft 169 also carries an actuator arm 174 mounted inside the housing. The actuator arm 174 carries a cam follower 176 (FIG. 13) in engagement with a twin-headed cam 177 (FIGS. 13 and 15). The shaft 169 is urged in a clockwise direc- Since 

10. A MACHINE FOR LOADING A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF ARTICLES INTO A PACKAGE WHICH COMPRISES A CHANNEL-SHAPED BUCKET HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED FLANGES, A BASE, AND AN OPEN SIDE, MEANS FOR ADVANCING THE BUCKET TO A LOADING STATION WITH THE SIDE FLANGES EXTENDING UPWARDLY, A PAIR OF ADJACENT TRAYS AT THE LOADING STATION AND OPPOSITE THE OPEN SIDE, MEANS FOR ADVANCING A WRAPPER IN U-SHAPED INTO THE BUCKET WITH A BASE OF THE WRAPPER ON THE BASE OF THE BUCKET AND WITH SIDES OF THE WRAPPER EXTENDING UPWARDLY INSIDE THE FLANGES OF THE BUCKET, MEANS FOR ADVANCING ARTICLES IN A LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION ALTERNATELY INTO THE TRAYS, MEANS FOR MOVING ARTICLES AXIALLY FROM ONE OF THE TRAYS INTO THE BUCKET ONTO THE WRAPPER WHILE ARTICLES ARE BEING COUNTED INTO THE OTHER TRAY AND MEANS FOR MOVING ARTICLES AXIALLY FROM THE OTHER TRAY INTO THE BUCKET WHEN ARTICLES ARE BEING COUNTED INTO THE FIRST TRAY. 